Strand drying apparatus



May 16, 1950 P. PENDLETON STRAND DRYING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 m, Mv

l l Il x I il |11 n t i n.. l J JI' IIII- Filed April 6. 1948 May 16, 1950 P. l.. PENDLl-:TON 2,507,678

STRAND DRYING APPARATUS Filed April 6,' 1948 2 Sheetf-Sheet 2 HUH /A/VE/VTOR.- /VYAM PEA/mim! BV y??? wf TTORA/.Fy

Patented `May 16, 1950 STRAND DRYING APPARATUS Pyam L. Pendleton, Cranston, R. assigner to Hampton Machine Company, a

Rhode Island corporation of Application April 6, 1948, Serial No. 19,305

'l Claimst This invention relates to the processing oi continuous strands of textile nbres. More particularly, it is concerned with a, drying device capable of general use in series rprocesses where a unit may consist of a reel on which yarn to be dried may be stored, the reel being manually retractable from a reel housing for initial loading, or for cloning or breakage repair to the yarn, after which the reel may be replaced in the housing for use as a component in the process in which, in normal operation, the yarn will enter the drier unit aty one point with a high moisture content and leave at another point with a low moisture content, the extracted moisture being drawn oi through the base of the drier unit by gravity or other means of conventional form, the time the yarn takes to follow a spiral path over the reel constituting the drying time.

Efllcient operation of such a drying device requires that the major part of heat applied to the yarn from heat sources within the unit be effective in evaporating the moisture content of the yarn with a minimum of loss in conduction or radiation to the supporting and surrounding structures. At the same time it is desirable to employ high temperature heat sources in order to effect a high rate of heat transfer in a process where the yarn runs at a high rate of speed. Uniformity of the drying action requires a rapid modulation of heat transfer to the yarn in storage closely related to the quick starting and stopping of the yarn incidental to high production processes in conjunction with doillng or repairs to broken yarn strands. Heat transfer to the yarn must commence immediately the yarn is started in order to prevent the passage of improperly dried yarn and must cease immediately when the yarn stops in order to avoid scorching or burning the yarn in storage.

It is a principal object of the invention to provide a new, practical and emcient means, in a drying device of the type described, for using heat sources of relatively high temperatures, for example of the order oi' 800 F., closely adjacent to textile strands for high heat transfer purposes withoutdamaging the yarn in fast stops and starts.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a drying device for continuous textile strands having a high rate of heat transfer in a compact structure while minimizing heat losses from conduction and radiation.

It is likewise an object of the invention to provide a drier unit capable of use in a series of treatments on a continuous yarn strand where the requirements of heat transfer in the drier may be very rapidly modulated to correspond with fast starting and stopping desirable in any treatment of the series.

Another object of the invention is to provide a drier for use with a storage reel and housing wherein the heating elements are readily accessible for repair or replacement.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a drying device in which yarn stored on a reel in a reel housing may receive favorable ccacting radiant heat reflection from closely spaced reflectors supported adjacent thereto.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a yarn drying device and method employing heating and centrifugal moisture removing means in alternation to achieve a more rapid and efficient drying action.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a drying device for use with a storage reel and housing wherein yarn on the reel may come into close relation with the heating elements yet be guarded against burning or scorching due to actual contact, and conversely, so that the elements will be protected from physical damage due to the presence of knots or tangles in the yarn.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide in a drying device including a storage reel, a reel housing and heat radiating elements requiring a closely spaced xed operating relation, and where said spaced relation obstructs loading or servicing of the reel, means whereby the reel and reel housing may be separated in automatic conjunction with separation of the heat radiating elements to facilitate loading or servicing of the reel and thereafter automatically rejoined in conjunction with re-positioning of the heat radiating elements in the original relation.

With the foregoing objects in view, the present invention is featured by the provision of a source of radiant heat in a reel and cell assembly, said source being arranged in close proximity to a layer of traveling strand and having associated therewith reflecting means to focus the radiant heat on the fibres.

Another feature is the provision of an electrical grid of heating elements in a reel and cell construction, said elements being suspended in slots formed in a reflector whereby the bres will be deflected from accidental contact with the heating elements.

Still another feature is the provision in a drying mechanism for the treatment of a continuous strand of textile fibres positioned in layer form Still another feature is the provision in a drying unit for a continuously moving stored yarn strand comprising heating elements and a storage reel in a housing adapted to reduce lossfrorn heat radiation, of a semi-enclosed high temperature primary heating zone of relatively small area located in the interior of the housing where maximum heat transfer to the yarn strand takes place and where radiation and conduction losses in the primary zone are collected and utilized in a secondary heating zone to further the overall drying effect and efliciency.

Still another feature is the provision in a drying unit for receiving, storing, drying and delivering a continuously traveling yarn strand, said unit comprising a storage reel, a reel housing and a semi-enclosed area in the interior of the housing defining a heat transfer zone of relatively high temperature, of centrifugal means operating in a separate heat transfer zone of `relatively low temperature to reduce the amount of moisture entering the primary zone thereby favorably reducing the amount of drying heat required with the centrifuged moisture draining from the reel housing without material evaporation.

With the foregoing and other objects and advantages in view, the invention consists in the novel arrangement and combination of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described in the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals refer to like parts in the several views and in which:

Fig. l is a plan view, with portions brokenl Fig. l, illustrating in particular the manner in which the electrical heating elements are arranged with respect to the other members;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section illustrating an alternative embodiment of the invention in which a single heating unit is employed to dry both layers of strand simultaneously; and?.

Fig. 5 is another alternative embodiment in which the heating elements are associated with the reel and the opposing secondaryreectors are carried by the cell walls. ,Y

Referring now more particularly to the embodiment of Figs. l through 3, the cell e having walls 9 is adapted to receive and support a loaded reel, which is not shown in detail, but which consists in general of two transversely spaced parallel supporting bars it on which a pair of longitudinally spaced rollers l2 and i3 is rotatably mounted. The reel may previously berloaded with a plurality of passes of continuous strand ld of textile fibres, forming two oppositely disposed layers of yarn in a manner well known in the art. The cell 8 is adapted for the insertioi. and withdrawal of the loaded reel through the end thereof according to the usual practice, and may be provided with a conventional cover 5l and drain 52, as shown in Fig. 4, for example. Any convenient arrangement of depending lugs B9 on the reel may engage grooved side bars such as 50 on cell 8 to maintain proper fixed operating spaced relations of the reel, cell and heater elements in assembly. The cell 8 may be associated with similar cells, not shown, placed in adjacent relation one to another so that strand may be passed through successive cells for treating, washing, rinsing, drying, etc. The present invention concerns itself, however, only with the drying operation which may be one of the above enumerated steps in the treatment or may be employed independently thereof.

Once the loaded reel has been inserted in the housing 8 the former may be driven at any desired speed through the sprocket i6 by a Sultable drive (not shown). It will be seen that the strand itself will impart motion to the opposite roller i3 to drive the same at the same speed as the directly driven roller l2, and that strand may be continuously fed into one side of the reel, as at I8, and withdrawn, as at 2li, for xample. Conventional automatic switches may be employed to energize or de-energize the drier simultaneously withstarting or stopping of the reel, and any well known automatic safety means may be employed for instantly halting the mechanism in case of yarn breakage.

According to the embodiments of Figs. 1 through 3, there is provided a heating unit 22 affixed to the walls it of the cell by bolts 23, in-

cluding electrical heating elements Eil of relatively'light wire having both a high resistance and a high melting point, and reflecting plates 26. Duplicate units are provided in both sides of the cell. As best seen in Fig. 3, the individual heating elements '2d are held by connectors 2t at the end of the heating unit 22, said connectors having inwardly extending prongs or iingersr arranged in pairs so that the heating wires will be connected in series electrically. it will be observed that the individual mountlngs of the heating elements 2li on the ngers 3@ enables the replacement of any individual elem'ent which may become burned out without disturbing the other elements.

Preferably the prongs or fingers 3@ of the connectors 23 are of resilient material to accommodate expansion and contraction of heating elethe heating wires 2G.

It is to be understood that the arrangement of straight resistance heating wires 2Q may be supplanted by strips, ribbons or extended helical coils of metallic or non-metallic resistance material within the spirit and scope of the invention, except that where such a substitute resistance material has sufficient natural elasticity, resilience in the fingers 3U is of less importance.

At both ends of the reflectors 26 are provided insulated inwardly projecting guides 3d having V-shaped inwardly facing openings 36 for appropriately spacing the heating elements 2d.

The inwardly facing surfaces of the reflector 25 are corrugated providing a series of grooves 38 o any desired contour to rellect the radiations of the elements 24 inwardly against. the strand M while the lips thereof serve to deflect the travelling strand away from accidental contact with the heating elements 24 which are depressed in the grooves 38. As shown in Fig. 3, the slots 38 are rectangular in cross-section, but they may he arcuate or parabolic as desired. Optionally I may employ transparent sheets of heat resistant inateriai or any other suitable deflecting means to shield the elements 24 from contact with the strand id.

To the removable reel is alxed a pair of outfacing secondary reflectors d@ by means lli, arranged to match the reflectors 26 the reel is inserted in the cell. The outiacing surface of each reflector siii is nl' and parallel to a plane tangential to s and i3 on the same side of the erect. Thus when the reel is initially strand it, 'the opposite iayers or yarn close 'proximity and parallel to the reiiecfiiter the reel has been .insertef the retainer, the yarn travels in a path bethe surfaces or the two reilectors it? and ning a primary heating zone adjacent the g elements 22a and will ce primarily dried se radiant heat emanating and reecting rom in conjunction with the heat conducthy particles in intermittent contact with and yarn Mt, After passing through rimary zone the strand enters a secondary heating zone in the area between the reel and housing which is heated by radiation and conn duction losses from the primary zone ley dosage of the strand and accompanying ng hot air particles. Tn this secondary acne, i "dition to receiving heat by conduction which assists evaporation, excess moisture on the yarn 'the form of drops or heavy water vapor is by centrifugal force hi passing over rollers i2 and This is of great importance e overall rying eniciency as the :drst few turns of strand adjacent to the commencement oi the strand helix on the reel usually have moisture content sufficiently high to Zoe favorably aiiected by centrifuging action particularly 'when rolls and i3 rotate at high speed. rThis meextraction reduces the amount of rnois1 ture which would otherwise have to he evaporated by heat from the primary Zone between reflectors il@ and 40. Moisture extracted in this manner will adhere to the Walls of cell d and drain ofi through the drain 52 (shown in Fig. 4i) which rnay be connected to conventional suction exhaust arrangements. By means of electrical connections, shown diagrammatically at dit, current is supplied from a suitable external source (not shown) to the series-connected heating elements 24.

in the embodiment of Fig. 4 there is illustrated a reel of the type in which the two layers of strand i4 are arranged in substantially a single plane, the inner course thereof traveling over rollers d6 and through a spacing comb 48. In this arrangement it is necessary to provide only one heating unit 22 which serves simultaneously to dry both layers of the traveling strand in an elcient manner. The secondary reflector 40 is arranged in the same manner as in the embodiment of Figs. l through 3. 'I'he reel illustrated in Fig. 4 is provided with a drain 52 and a cover 5i and is adapted for operation in a vertical position with the drain 52 lowermost. The emhcdiinents iilustrated in the other iigures ci the ilu drawings optionally may aise ce provided with covers and drains in like manner, although they have not been shown in the drawings.

In the alternative embodiment of Fig. 5 there is shown a conventional reel loaded with strand in two layers as in Figs. .li-3, but in this case the heating assembly has ibeen reversed with the electrically-energized units 22 aiilxed to the reel while the matching secondary reflectors 40 are carried hy the cell i8. This construction, however, rnay increase the weight of the reel and requires the use of detachable electric connections to permit loading and unloading of the reel and insertion and withdrawal thereof from the cell, whereas in the embodiments ci Figs. l-4 rigid conduit wiring may he employed.

will thus Toe seen that i have provided a drier for yarn wound. on s. storage reel, making use of a grid eiectricai resistance wire as a source or heat, in which the 'temperature may he very rapidly raised or lowered concoinitantiy with stopping and starting ci the yarn. The grid oi light high resistance wires is supported by adjacent heat reflecting surfaces oi' iow mass hich have a relatively ion' rate of absorption and low heat storage capacity and through connectors or low resistance and small mass which are not heated appreciahly by passag-e oi" current, the result that the areas supporting structure in close proximity to the heat source do not store a ha; ui quantity oi heat and do not radiate to the yarn in harmiul quantity when the travei ci the yarn is stopped the current shut ofi, and furthermore do not cause a harrniui lag in heat transfer when the yarn is started and the current again turned on. The arrangement of a primary reflector associated with the grid-supporting surface and a secondary reecting surface oppose thereto serves to focus the radiant heat on the yarn passing therebetween to provide a highly eicient drying means with very little heat loss and a minimum of heat storage.

it is apparent that a drier may be constructed without the use of e. secondary reflecting surface to match of the grid support at a very considerahle loss in efficiency. 'i prefer, however, to use cooperating pairs of reflectors to form a primary heating zone as distinct from a secondary heating zone between the reel and the reei housing to provide the highest degree of heating efficiency and the shortest time lag in temperature control when starting and stopping.

In the foregoing description I have illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention, but it will nevertheless be understood that my invention is capable of changes and modification and rearrangement of parts within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A device for heat treating a traveling strand which comprises: a reel housing, a reel insertable therein, said reel being adapted to be loaded with a plurality of parallel passes of continuous strand to form a layer, an inwardly disposed heat reilector affixed Within said housing and an outwardly disposed matching heat reflector carried |by said reel to provide a cooperating pair of opposed parallel heat reflecting surfaces arranged to permit passage therebetween of said strand layer when said reel is inserted in said housing, and a source of radiant heat of low mass interposed between said surfaces and cooperating therewith to focus heat upon said layer.

2. A device fior heat treating a traveling strand which comprises: a reel housing, a reel insertable therein, said reel Ibeing adapted to be loaded with a plurality of passes of continuous strand forma ing layers thereon, an inwardly disposed primary heat reflector aiiixedto the interior wall of said housing and having an inwardly facing heat refleeting surface arranged to be adjacent and parallel to a strand layer when said reel is in inserted position, a grid of electrical heating elements mounted in said housing adjacent said primary reector, and a secondary matching heat reflector carried by said reel beneath said strand layer and adapted to cooperate with said primary re= flector and said heating elements to focus heat on said strand layer.

3. A device for heat treating a traveling strand which comprises: a reel housing, a reel insertable therein, said reel being adapted to Ibe loaded with a plurality of passes of continuous strand to form two parallel layers, inwardly disposed grooved primary reectors afxed to the interior Walls of said housing and outwardly disposed matching secondary reflectors carried by said reel to provide two cooperating pairs of opposed parallel heat reecting surfaces arranged to permit passage therebetween of the strand layers when said reel is inserted in said cell, and a grid of electrical heating elements associated with each of said primary reectors, said elements being depressed in the grooves thereof. v

4. A device for heat treating a traveling strand of textile bers which comprises: a reel-supporting housing, a reel insertable therein, said reel being adapted to be loaded with a plurality of passes of continuous strand in layer form, a primary heat reector carried by said reel having an outwardly facing heat-reflecting surface adjacent a strand layer, a secondary matching inwardly disposed heat reector mounted on the interior of said housing, and a grid of electrical heating elements mounted on said reel adjacent the surface of said primary reector, said reflectors and said grid being so disposed and arranged that when said reel is inserted in said housing a layer of strand will pass between said reectors and adjacent said heating grid.

5. A device for heat-treating a traveling strand of fibers which comprises: a reel housing, a reel insertable therein, said reel being adapted to be loaded with a plurality of passes of continuous strand in layer form, outwardly disposed primary heat reflectors axed to said reel and inwardly disposed matching secondary heat reectors carried by said housing to provide cooperating pairs of opposed parallel heat reflecting surfaces arranged to permit passage therebetween of a strand layer when said reel is inserted in said housing, and a grid of electrical heating elements associated with each of said primary reectors and arranged adjacent said surfaces and cooperating therewith to focus radiant heat on the course of travel of said strand.

6. In combination with a drying unit :for continuous textile strands having a storage reel housing, a storage reel separable therefrom and adapted to :be loaded with a plurality of passes of strand to form a layer, and a heating unit consisting of a source of radiant heat and a pair of associated heat reectors enclosing said layer, one of said refiectors being mounted on said reel and the other on said housing, means -for retracting said reel from said housing concomitantly with separation of said reectors to facilitate loading, replacement of and repairs to said yarn layer.

7. In a drying unit for continuous textile strands, a storage reel housing, a storage reel separable therefrom and adapted to be loaded with a plurality of passes of strand to form a layer, a heat reector attached to said reel and a second heat reflector attached to said housing,v

said reiectors providing a, coacting pair of heat reecting surfaces enclosing said layer when said reel is in inserted position, and heating elements associated with one of said reectors, whereby said reectors will be separated in conjunction with separation of said reel and housing to facilitate loading, replacement of and repairs to said strand layer.

PYAM L. PENDLEION.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,473,542 Chanier et al Nov. 6, 1923 1,479,819 Kluever Jan. 8, 1924 1,802,407 Danninger et al Apr. 28, 1931 1,820,621 Junkers Aug. 25, 1931 2,129,274 Hartmann et al Sept. 6, 1938 2,162,727 Kline June 20, 1939 2,266,392 Durant et al Dec` 16, 1941 2,445,443 Long July 20, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 48,567 Switzerland Apr. 13, 1910 

